Tawhiti School

School Evaluation Report

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Context 

Tawhiti School is located in Hawera, South Taranaki and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school prioritises caring relationships between all members of the school community and creating a ‘whānau like’ context within the school through the values of hauora, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and ako.

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation. 

Part B: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki/bilingual settings. 

Part C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle. 

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals

Since the previous ERO report in 2022, ERO and the school have been working together to evaluate how effectively school leaders and staff have analysed, interpreted and responded to a range of learner progress and attendance data and the impact of this on achievement in literacy and numeracy.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Through a focus on developing well rounded learners with strong wellbeing, attendance and learning behaviours, progress in literacy and numeracy would be positive and any achievement gaps lessened between groups of learners. 

• Learner achievement data shows progress in reading, and mathematics with the most significant increase in writing; however, a significant equity gap is still evident between boys and girls in writing.
• Equity gaps for Māori learners still exist across all three learning areas; in writing this has notably reduced. 

Teachers adapting their practice to best meet the needs of learners, based on evaluation and monitoring of what works best for each learner. 

• Well-developed and embedded systems and processes guide teachers’ inquiry into the impact of their teaching on learner outcomes and to respond to insights gained; consequently, learner outcomes have improved. 

Other Findings 

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been the growth in teacher capability and confidence in teaching writing. Professional learning and development has resulted in improved teacher practice and learner outcomes. 

Part B: Current State 

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• A large majority of learners achieve at or above curriculum levels in reading and mathematics, with a small majority achieving at or above in writing. 
• The school is yet to achieve equitable outcomes for some groups of learners. 
• Regular attendance across the school has improved, and although not yet meeting is progressing well towards meeting the Ministry of Education targets. 
• Learners express a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school evidenced through wellbeing data that is regularly collected and responded to.  

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders build and sustain high levels of relational trust, collaboration and communication across the school, focused on the continuous improvement of professional practice. 
• School leaders ensure expectations for teaching practice are clear, shared, monitored and purposefully focused on improved outcomes for all learners. 
• Leadership continues to strengthen teacher practice, through a range of targeted professional development, that has improved learner outcomes. 

• A suitable range of appropriate and good quality assessment information is used to plan for, evaluate and report on the progress and achievement of each learner. 
• An extensive and well-developed sequence of learning supports teachers in the delivery of a rich programme across the school, supporting more learners to achieve at their expected curriculum levels.  
• Leaders and teachers increasingly integrate te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning opportunities throughout the curriculum to further promote high levels of learner engagement. 

• Leaders and teachers have an embedded understanding of the role of evaluation for improvement supporting staff to adapt practice to better meet the needs of learners. 
• Leaders and teaching staff regularly collect and analyse data to inform improvement focused decision making.
• School leaders and teachers regularly work together to inquire into aspects of their teaching practice to identify the strategies and practices that further support learner progress and achievement.
• The board of trustees understands its statutory obligations and has in place suitable systems and processes to regularly review policies and procedures that are fit for purpose.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• continue to develop data literacy capability and understandings of teacher practice to know why disparity between groups of learners persists, and how to respond to ensure equitable outcomes for all learners
• embed structured literacy across the school to support improved literacy outcomes
• build teacher knowledge of the expectations of the new curriculum for successful implementation focused on ongoing improvement in learner outcomes 
• continue to grow integration of mātauranga Māori across the curriculum to enhance learner engagement.

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.

Within six months:

• school leaders will model in-depth data analysis and examination of practice to identify why disparity in learner outcomes exist and the strategies and practices to address this
• staff undertake professional development and guidance in structured literacy to support improved literacy outcomes for all learners
• leadership provides staff with the necessary support and guidance to successfully implement the new curriculum
• review integration of mātauranga Māori within learning programmes to develop actions to continue to grow this aspect of the curriculum for enhanced learner engagement, successful outcomes and to meet whānau aspirations.

Every six months:

• school leaders and staff closely analyse learner attendance, progress and achievement data, identifying what is working and for who and next steps; identifying if and why disparity between groups of learners is occurring 
• the board scrutinise analysed schoolwide attendance, progress and achievement data to understand the impact of teaching programmes to inform improvement actions; this includes deliberate discussion about why disparity between groups of learners may be occurring.

Annually:

• board and staff rigorously scrutinise analysed schoolwide attendance, achievement, progress and wellbeing data, to understand the impact of teaching practice and programmes on learner outcomes and to inform decision making for the next school year
• the school board uses a process of self-evaluation to ensure the effectiveness of their own performance
• continue to collect whānau, hapū, iwi voice as part of schoolwide evaluation, to learn to what extent the localised curriculum meets their aspirations.

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:

• improved learner achievement outcomes, with an increased number of learners achieving at or above curriculum expectation in reading, writing and mathematics, and equity for groups of learners
• high levels of data literacy across all staff leading to an in-depth understanding of the impact of teaching on learner outcomes
• structured literacy and the new curriculum effectively embedded across the school
• all learners achieving educational success through a responsive, localised curriculum enriched by the mātauranga of local hapū and iwi.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children

Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools

4 February 2025

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.  educationcounts.govt.nz/home